Beard is fallout from lockout

Apr. 28, 2011

Written by

Sam Borden

Journal News columnist

As the NFL labor dispute rages on, there are, obviously, certain concessions that Tony DeFilippis has had to make to the growth that is spreading across his face like a sort of Chia-Pet brushfire. DeFilippis, a Giants fan, last shaved 48 days ago and, in protest of the work stoppage that threatens the 2011 NFL season, he has vowed to not pick up a razor again until the games for the coming year are safe.

As political statements go, it's not exactly Tommie Smith and the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, but there are real issues. First, exercising has become much, much more of a chore because sweating "is the absolute worst," he tells me over lunch recently. The beard itches and burns almost immediately. "It's just awful," he says. He admits to being slightly worried about skin breakouts.

Then there are — of course — the comments and questions from colleagues at Diversified Investment Advisors. The women, in particular, are a combination of curious and dismissive. ("Nobody understands what he's doing," says his buddy, Joe Monaco. Another friend, Greg Gardini, says, "Yeah, because it's not normal.")

Grooming is also a chore. DeFilippis gets up for work each morning at 6:45, and he has had to add time into his routine for conditioning his beard (with his wife's conditioner, it must be said); if he forgets, the beard comes out looking (and feeling) like steel wool. Afterward, he says, it "takes me longer to dry my beard than to dry my hair."

Still, he is not complaining. DeFilippis, 27, has loved football since he was a kid growing up in Ardsley, and he remains adamant that he won't backtrack on his promise to stay blade-free until a real settlement is reached. The latest court decision in the players' favor? Not enough, he says. Football needs to be all the way back before he'll clean himself up. If the beard grows so long that he moonlights as a wizard on the weekends, so be it.

"We talked about dying it for July 4th or something," he says. "Maybe red, white and blue?" He's joking, but there are doubters, to be sure. Another work friend, Michael DeMarco, says plenty of colleagues question whether DeFilippis will give in at some point, whether he is "AT&T" or "All-Talk Tony." But those who doubt don't know his passion for the game.

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"He's a die-hard," DeMarco says.

DeFilippis learned about football from his father, who was a Cowboys fan, and it wasn't long before father and son would sit in different rooms of the house to watch the same Giants-Cowboys game on television. DeFilippis began playing organized ball in the sixth grade and kept going up through high school, making an all-league team as a lineman for Ardsley. Even now, he still plays in the competitive Tappan Zee Flag Football League.

When the Giants won Super Bowl XLII, he immediately got a personalized Giants license plate ("SB CHMP") for his car. He once won free tickets to a game from Giants cornerback Terrell Thomas, who held a contest on his Twitter account looking for the biggest Giants fan among his followers.

DeFilippis, of course, Tweeted a picture of all the Giants jerseys he has — he says there are "about 12" now — and ended up getting the tickets. "I just love football," he says. "It's a huge part of my life."

DeFilippis' wife, Dianne, is understanding of his dedication — "she's great," DeFilippis says — but is also savvy. Shortly after the Giants beat the Patriots to win that Super Bowl in '08, she approached DeFilippis, her boyfriend at the time, and smiled sweetly at her man who was so giddy, so excited, so overwhelmed that he was nearly exploding with joy.

"So," she said, "can we get engaged?"

"She had a ring six weeks later," DeFilippis says, shrugging.

Of course, in their wedding photos DeFilippis was clean-shaven, and he admits this is the first time he's ever grown anything much beyond a 5 o'clock shadow. Playoff beards are commonplace in sports (particularly hockey), but there isn't much history to lockout beards. That's part of the reason DeFilippis has taken to Twitter to try to raise awareness (he's @TheLockoutBeard), and he's gotten a few shout-outs, including one from — alas — former Jet Kerry Rhodes.

"Yeah, I know, I know," DeFilippis says. "But I'll take the support wherever I can get it."